What is Language?
Language is the human capacity for acquiring and
using complex systems of communication, and a language is any specific example of such a
system. The scientific study of language is called linguistics.
Estimates of the number of languages...
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What is Language?
Language is the human capacity for acquiring and
using complex systems of communication, and a language is any specific example of such a
system. The scientific study of language is called linguistics.
Estimates of the number of languages in the world vary between 6,000 and 7,000. However, any
precise estimate depends on a partly arbitrary distinction between languages and dialects. Natural
languages are spoken or signed, but any language can be encoded into secondary media using
auditory, visual, or tactile stimuli – for example, in graphic writing, braille, or whistling. This is
because human language is modality-independent. When used as a general concept, "language" may
refer to the cognitive ability to learn and use systems of complex communication, or to describe the
set of rules that makes up these systems, or the set of utterances that can be produced from those
rules. All languages rely on the process of semiosis to relate signs with particular meanings.
What
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